Abstract

THE PROFILE OF HUMAN LEUKOCYTE ANTIGEN CLASS I IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

Dr. Manal M. Khadhim*, Dr. Ali O. Al-Hamzawi and Israa A. Dheeb

Abstract

Background: Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that affects approximately one percent of the general population. It is a complex, chronic mental health disorder characterized by a spectrum of symptoms, including delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech or behavior and impaired cognitive ability. The pathogenesis of schizophrenia is influenced by many risk factors, most importantly environmental –genetic interplay. At the present time, in addition to environmental factors, genetic factors are assumed to play a role in the development of the schizophrenia. Aim: The present study was carried out to investigate the mapping of Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) class 1 (A&B) alleles in the selected sample of schizophrenic patients in Iraqi population. Methods: The extracted DNA was amplified for exon1, exon2, exon3 and exon4 of the HLA –A,B genes in 60 clinically diagnosed schizophrenic patients and 60 healthy control individuals (30 healthy first degree relative and 30 random unrelated healthy individuals with no family history of psychiatric illness. For statistical significance, measured OR is assessed by a special 2 formula. Results: One human leukocyte antigen -A gene (A*03) and two human leukocyte antigen - B genes (B*07 and B*40) significantly increased the risk of having schizophrenia compared to general population controls P value = 0.005, 0.005and 0.027 respectively. Human leukocyte antigen - B*40 gene increased the risk of having the disease by 3.3 times, while B42 decreased the risk by 4 times however fail to reach the statistical significance. Conclusion: HLA-A*03 allele and B*40 allele considered as significant risk factors for having schizophrenia. The presence of HLA-A*31, A*26 and A*68 alleles protects against having schizophrenia.

Keywords: Schizophrenia, HLA, Allele, Genotype.